Suns' Win Over Lakers Shows What They're All About

The Phoenix Suns are playing a completely different brand of basketball this season that has left plenty of fans very pleased with what they are seeing night in and night out.

After two-straight losses against some of the best teams in the NBA in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, Phoenix responded emphatically with a 125-108 blowout victory on the road over the Los Angeles Lakers (15-5), who had previously won seven games in a row, Monday night.

The Suns improved to 13-9 on the season and showed on national TV against a marquee opponent exactly what new coach Jordan Ott is building in the Valley with a team that had very low preseason expectations.

There were two main areas that stood out from the Suns in the victory:

Overcoming Adversity

No matter the opponent or who is available or out for the Suns, they are going to play with maximum effort and confidence.

Against the Lakers, Phoenix had to overcome losing Devin Booker in the first quarter to a groin injury, but didn't skip a beat, outscoring LA 35-21 in the second quarter to set up the momentum for the big win.

Stepping up for injured players is a consistent theme for the Suns, as Jalen Green has missed all but one complete game this season due to a right hamstring strain, and they continued to do so for Booker last night.

Dillon Brooks poured in 33 points in a place where he has some history, Collin Gillespie recorded a career-high 28 points and Royce O'Neale tied his career high with 11 assists.

These types of performances are nothing new for the Suns, who were also without Grayson Allen.

Brooks, Gillespie, O'Neale, Allen, Mark Williams (defensively), Jordan Goodwin, Jamaree Bouyea, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro are all having the best individual season of their careers so far, which is quite remarkable to have so many players on the same team having breakout years.

This has led to tremendous team success so far and players being ready whenever their name is called.

Turning Defense Into Offense

Phoenix displayed exactly how it leads the league in steals with the number now up to 10.9 per game after 16 against L.A.

Luka Doncic (nine turnovers), Austin Reaves (five turnovers) and LeBron James (three turnovers) were all notably bothered by Phoenix's ball pressure.

The Suns weren't just turning the Lakers over, as they also won the fast break points 28-2 and points off turnovers 32-13, and it was clear their game plan was to pressure Los Angeles relentlessly on the second night of a back-to-back and turn it into points on the other end.

Phoenix now ranks fourth in the league in points off turnovers per game (21.5) after last night.

Lakers coach JJ Redick understood his team did not come close to matching Phoenix's effort and intensity.

"If you don't play hard against (the Suns), you're going to get exposed," Redick said.

"We talked about matching their physicality, didn't do that to any extent at any point of the game. Maybe there's brain fog from three (games) in four nights. I don't know, but I don't remember ever talking about going under and Gillespie is making 3s and Royce O'Neale is making 3s.

"I don't know. It's a weird sort of thing. It's like the Monstars (from Space Jam) taking over people you've prone to coach and they're not doing anything they normally do."